


Ascension

by Leodragon678



Category: Slay the Spire (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2020-12-28 13:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21137426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leodragon678/pseuds/Leodragon678
Summary: The Spireblight changed everything... We're all here for our own reasons, but we all have one goal... To slay the spire...





	1. Beginnings

**Hey everyone! So, for those of you that know me from my Sonic fanfics, don't worry! I'm not leaving those any time soon! I've got a work outside the fandom I've wanted to do, so I'm going to start on that!**

**This story is from the game Slay the Spire, as I've wanted to write something in that universe!**

**Ascension**

_ **Beginnings** _

The being trudged onward, it had been a long time since the Spireblight had unleashed itself from the accursed building. His sword across his back reminded him of what had become of him, he could still hear the screams as their bodies turned to ash.

Fear overtook his emotions as the memories surfaced…

A huge demon towered over him, howling with laughter. Around him, came the screams, the village was engulfed by tall pillars of dark flame.

**"You really are the strongest now!"** The demon laughed, this isn't what he wanted, he hadn't meant for it to happen.

The laughter and screams echoed in his mind even now…

Shaking off the feelings, he continued onward, the tall structure dominated the skyline, he knew where he was going.

As he approached the base of the Spire, he could make out a figure standing at its doors, he wasn't sure exactly who it was, but he approached cautiously, drawing the long blade strapped to his back.

As he approached, the figure span around a drew a pair of twin daggers, arms raised and ready to strike. The two merely stared at each other for a moment before the cloaked figure spoke. "I assume you're here to climb the Spire?"

The swordsman slowly lowered his weapon, the rogue did the same, while also removing her hood to reveal an ornate skull helmet and a dark-skinned face.

"Are you here for the same?" The swordsman asked, not removing his mask, his silver hair the only identifiable trait present.

"Take off your mask," She asked.

"No, the mask stays on…"

"How about we start over with this whole thing?" She asked, "Assuming we're both here to climb this thing, I think we could help each other out."

The swordsman nodded, "Mask stays on though…"

The rogue sighed, but began her introduction. "My name is Minerva, I come from a tribe of wanderers, I've been tasked with climbing the spire and proving my loyalty to my tribe. A rite of passage if you will…"

The swordsman began shortly after, "My name is Jarus, and I am the last of a group of proud swordsmen called the Ironclads. I'm here for revenge against the demon that slaughtered my people, and to bring an end to the Spireblight."

Minerva nodded, "Well I guess we're now on better terms huh?"

"Agreed, let's see how this goes…"

Jarus stepped up to the doorway and entrance to the Spire, it was old and dilapidated with age, the original large doors now rotted away. He drew his sword and slashed an entrance, splinters and chunks of wood flying off as the blade struck.

Minerva was puzzled by his insistence on keeping his mask on, the glowing yellow eye sockets and silver hair were certainly not normal, but she figured that having his help would be more important than knowing… It wasn't against the rules of her tribe to enlist help in the spire climb, but her goal was simple, return with another of the skull that lay on her head. She didn't have intentions of conquering the entire structure, in fact, nobody knew what was atop the building above the cloud line.

With one strong kick to the door, the wood around them was broken in completely, allowing passage into the Spire's interior. The two slowly made their way into the structure, the only lights being the natural light from their opening, and from Jarus' eyes, or at least, what Minerva assumed were eyes…

As the two walked forward, they found themselves face to face with three pairs of yellow eyes, staring out at them from the inky black. They both instantly drew their weapons in anticipation for a fight, but instead, they were greeted by a deep booming voice.

"Greetings… I am Neow…"

The torches that lined the room were instantly alight, revealing a large fish like creature, unlike anything either of them had seen before.

"Stow your weapons, you have no need for them now…" Neow began, the two did as they were told. "I assume you are here for the same purpose as the others? To conquer the Spire?"

Jarus and Minerva both nodded.

"I wish to see the Spire defeated as well, however, my powers are growing weaker, as such, I will grant you each one simple request, I suggest you think over what you ask for…"

The two puzzled over the sentence for a moment, before Minerva responded. "I ask for a bundle of Deathroot."

Neow looked surprised for a moment, before responding. "Granted…"

Instantly, a pouch appeared in the air in front of her, looking into it, she instantly recognized the bright green coloration in the flowers. She smiled and tucked the pouch into the folds of her cloak.

Jarus began as soon as she was done, "A sharpening stone for my weapons."

Neow seemed to nod, "Granted…"

Instantly, his small bag he carried with him got slightly heavier as the stone materialized in his bag.

"Is that all?" Minerva asked, "Is there any advice you can offer us?"

Neow seemed surprised, "It seems you are wiser than most… However, I have no advice I can offer you… You'll simply have to discover for yourself…"

The rogue nodded and the duo continued past, now with their own small wish. Jarus broke the silence. "Why Deathroot? Isn't that stuff super poisonous?"

"Exactly! It's a tradition of our tribe that all Silents learn how to create poisons, Deathroot is just the one that lasts the longest."

"Silents?"

"A part of my tribe, we're the hunting group, normally tasked with gathering and hunting what food we could find… Before the Spireblight that was, now we're mostly defenders and assassins…"

"Seems like the Blight got all of us then…"

"What happened with you? People don't just come to the Spire for no reason."

Jarus eyed the dilapidated stone walls and vines, the pillars for the hallways they found themselves in looked as if they could collapse at any moment. The swordsman sighed, "I'm here for vengeance, when I encountered a demon, born from the Spireblight, who told me I could have whatever I desired for a price, I foolishly believed him… I asked to become the strongest warrior in my tribe, he did this by giving me access to powerful demon magic…"

Minerva listened on with curious intent…

"I couldn't control it, there's a reason I'm the last Ironclad…"

He let the implication hang in the air for a moment, the two continued on in silence. Eventually, they came across what appeared to be a large blue crystalline rock poking out of a pile of rubble, Minerva approached slowly, trying to figure out exactly what it was.

"I've heard of these things…" She began, "There's rumors of a cult of people who live here, apparently they worshiped some sort of bird god, this looks like a statue of it, or at least, what's left of one…"

Jarus stepped up to the statue and investigated it, checking the cracks in the stone, he noticed a slight glint to one of the cracks, he drew his blade off his back.

"What are you doing?" Minerva asked, before she could say anything else, he swung downward and struck one of the many cracks present, the stone split open in a shower of crystalline dust. Inside was a nicely sized bunch of coins.

The rogue looked at him curiously, "That's interesting…" She responded, "Good kind but still…"

As they were busy collecting the coins from the pile, a low guttural growl made its way to their ears. The duo spun around and came face to face with a short blue creature, a mouth of sharp teeth was visible emerging from its face, but aside from a short tail, there were no other defining features.

Minerva drew both her daggers, her cloak unfurling around her. Jarus prepared his blade, as the two did, another creature emerged from behind them.

"I'll take that one," Jarus stated, nodding toward the monster behind them. Minerva agreed and instantly, the two were off in a flash of speed.

Jarus was just able to turn around before the monster was on him, it pounced, pinning him to the ground as it thrashed at him, teeth ready to strike. His sword clattered out of his hand as he landed, he threw his weight to the side and delivered a punch to its underbelly, throwing it off of his chest. He made his way to his feet and, this time, as the monster pounced, he was ready. He delivered a clothesline to its neck midair, thrusting it to the ground.

Minerva meanwhile, was busy dealing with her own creature. She drew a pair of small throwing daggers from her belt on her tunic, they flew with almost perfect accuracy and impaled themselves into the side of their target. Just as they struck, the monster turned and charged at her. She rolled out of the way and as she dodged, she delivered a slash to its body, blood spilled out of the side, spattering on the stones below.

With his monster subdued for a moment, Jarus quickly retrieved his weapon and charged back toward the monster, just as it had rolled over onto its back his blade descended and pierced through its skull. Instantly, the creature was still as he removed the blade from its forehead.

Minerva dodged again, the monster that had attacked her was now bleeding thoroughly as dozens of slash marks lined its skin. As she delivered one last slash, the monster fell to its side in a pool of its own blood.

The two brushed the dust off themselves, Minerva had a few small bloodstains on her cloak, but otherwise they were both unharmed.

They both looked at each other, "Something tells me that's not the last of them?" Jarus responded. Another of the monsters materialized from the darkness. Before any of them could respond however, a bolt of lightning struck it on the side and, what appeared to be a swirling orb of darkness hit it and exploded.

A pair of glowing blue circles appeared from the shadows, they peered at the two of them and instantly, a robotic voice was heard. "Objective: Balance must be Enforced."

A streak of lightning flew at Jarus, blasting him off his feet and sending him backward into a wall, several chunks of the ceiling rained down from above and covered the area in a thin cloud of dust.

Minerva charged forward and met the blue and yellow automation head on, attempting to strike the machine with her daggers. They simply glanced off of its armor. It turned at scraped at her with its claws, raking them across her back and tearing through her cloak. Minerva screamed in pain as blood slowly flowed from the injury. Jarus slammed himself into the machine, seemingly dealing no effective damage. The automation projected a beam of energy out of its forehead and directed it at the swordsman he dodged out of the way just as Minerva hit it with a set of throwing daggers, one ricocheted off while the other struck it in the chest, causing sparks to fly out of its internals.

A small yellow orb of electricity retaliated, blasting the rogue backward before returning to its position around the machine's head. Her stunning the machine and distracting the orb was all it took however as Jarus charged it and cleaved its head clean off, leaving a mess of wires where it once was. The automation collapsed, and the orb of energy vanished.

Jarus ran over to his fallen companion, Minerva slowly stood, her vision swam, and she felt lightheaded. As she went to collapse, Jarus caught her and investigated her injuries, she had lost a decent amount of blood from the slashes on her back and he quickly picked up her limp self and continued onward, hoping he could find something to help.

**Alright everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Ascension! I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you all liked it! Until next time!**


	2. The Automation

**Hello everybody! You guys seemed to love reading the story just a much as I loved writing it! Thank you for your input! Let's get started on another chapter!**

**Ascension**

** _The Automation_ **

Minerva woke to a feeling of warmth and the sharp sounds of metal grinding against stone. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, she laid next to a campfire, Jarus sat a few feet away, sharpening his sword with the stone he had received from Neow. Her cloak, weapons, and storage pouches sat nearby, her cloak had several tears running through it, but otherwise, looked like she had left it.

She slowly sat up, feeling something wrapped around her chest.

"You're up," Jarus began. "Didn't look good there for a second…"

The rogue's mind started to clear and she recalled what had happened before blacking out, she had been attacked by that mechanical thing… "Where are we?"

"A bit further in, somebody was nice enough to leave a bit of wood lying around. If you're wondering where the bandage is from, some adventurer that came before us, he wasn't so lucky… Left quite a bit here actually…"

The bandage around her chest was a combination of loose clothing and actual bandages, it seemed Jarus didn't quite find enough to completely cover it with bandages so he improvised.

"Anything happen while I was out?"

"Not much, there was a slime or two, but nothing I couldn't handle."

Minerva smiled and stood up, Jarus offered her a canteen. "Water?"

She took and drank a bit, then, glanced at the container. "What'd you find here?"

"Clothing, wood, the canteen you're currently using and I think two more…"

"Where's the other ones?"

Jarus pointed to a spot a short distance from their fire. The rogue handed the canteen back to him and walked over, grabbed the remaining two canteens and carried them back to the fire. Grabbing one of her daggers, she pried the top off of one of them. Jarus was puzzled as to what she was doing, but decided to play along.

"Can I borrow some of that?" She asked, pointing to the canteen he was currently holding. He handed it to her and watched as she transferred some of the water to the other one she was currently holding. Minerva rummaged through her belongings for a second before locating the pouch of Deathroot given to her by Neow. She grabbed a piece of cloth from torn clothing and reached in, being careful not to touch it with her bare hands. She removed a few pieces of it and used her weapons to slice it into more manageable pieces.

She then placed the plants into the top of her open canteen, before sealing it and crushing it as best she could from the outside. After a few minutes, she opened it back up and smiled.

"It's not perfect, but it'll do."

"Poison?"

"You bet," She responded, handing it to him, looking in, he noticed the liquid hand changed to a sickly green color, there were still bits and pieces of plant in it, but otherwise it looked completely liquid.

"It's not fully mixed yet," Minerva explained. "But I'll just finish it as we go."

She grabbed her cloak and wrapped it back around herself, placing her daggers, canteen of poison, and other belongings on her waist. The skull was placed back atop her head. Jarus stood and after a brief moment, the two carried onward into the unknown.

After a while, the two came across a peculiar sight, a seemingly humanoid figure, the approached with caution as he came into view, they noticed his blue robes and white mask covering his face. "Welcome!" He greeted. "Buy somthin', will ya!"

The duo glanced at each other, _"Who would run a shop in a place like this?" _They thought, but then figured beggars couldn't be choosers, and so they looked over what was available.

Additionally to the small chest that sat next to him, a rug covered a patch of the ground, sprinkled across it were goods of many types. Bundles of food, canteens of water, spices like ginger and cinnamon…

A small crystalline shard caught Jarus' eye and he gently took it in his hand, colors danced across its surface.

"Ah, you interested?" The merchant began. "It allows access to powers beyond our reality!"

Upon hearing this statement, Jarus gently returned the stone, he'd dealt with enough otherworldly magic for one lifetime. Minerva meanwhile, was looking at a set of needles and threads, which, after asking for the price, she purchased with the gold they'd found earlier.

Afterward, nothing else caught their eye and as they left, they could hear the merchant's cheery voice, "Come back again soon!"

The two walked in silence for a bit before they brought him up.

"Why's he here?" Jarus asked.

"From what I got; he likes gold… So maybe to make a profit off people like us?"

The two turned a corner and instantly, found themselves face to face with a smooth metallic shell… Small holes dotted it's surface, and from the sound of breathing coming from its insides, it would seem like whatever inhabited it was fast asleep.

Minerva quietly pulled Jarus along, the swordsman leaned over to her ear. "What is that thing?"

"I'm not sure we want to find out…" She responded, still quietly pulling him along. Jarus jerked his hand back and out of Minerva's grasp, but he did so with a bit too much force and accidentally struck the shell. There was a tense moment where the two of them didn't even dare to breath. The white shell shifted and that was all the provocation Jarus needed. He drew his sword from his back and plunged it into one of the holes that littered the exterior, the creature inside screamed.

Yellow claw like appendages appeared from the large opening as the beast stood, a singular blue eye staring out at them from the darkness. As it stood, it effortlessly lifted Jarus into the air, he still clung to his sword as it raised.

The monster turned to face Minerva, whom quickly dodged out of the way as one of its claws slashed at her. As she dodged back, she removed the canteen from her belt and drew a handful of throwing daggers from her belt. She opened the container of poison and poured a bit onto her projectiles and launched them at the monster. A few harmlessly struck its outer shell and bounced off, but more found their marks and the creature roared, throwing Jarus from atop it, still without his sword.

She dashed over to him, "What is this thing!?"

As it approached the duo, the swordsman's' hand began to glow a bright orange and a short circle of flames appeared around the two of them, as the monster approached, the flames grew, keeping it at bay.

Minerva smiled, "I was wondering when I'd get to see some of that demon magic!"

Jarus dropped the barrier as Minerva charged forward, applying a bit more poison to her now weakened victim with her weapons. Just as she did, a blast of flames flew past her, impacting the monster directly, then another…

She looked back and Jarus seemed to be unleashing a torrent of fire in its direction, however, it didn't look he could keep it up for long as with each fireball, he looked more and more exhausted.

Minerva decided it was about time to end this, and, while the beast was attempting to reach Jarus, she slid underneath it and sprayed a handful of knives into it, the beast let out a horrifying shriek before toppling over, dead.

As the two of them caught their breath, the rogue noticed something nearby, a small lantern sat nearby, potentially as something the monster had been guarding. They now had a source of light apart from the torches fastened to the walls, many of which were out.

They retrieved the lamp and continued forward, now slightly paranoid of the appearance of large foreign creatures. Minerva broke the silence, "So, does it hurt to use demon magic?"

"It's more tiring then painful… Takes a lot out of you…"

She was going to nod, but was suddenly alerted by the sound of metallic footsteps. As they looked over, they noticed a pair of circular blue lights staring back at them. Remembering their encounter from earlier, the two rushed toward the machine. However, the robot didn't respond, or even move. They stopped their assault, as they did, the robot spoke.

"Error: Balance Not Found…" It repeated the sentence a few times, Jarus and Minerva glanced at each other and sheathed their weapons. The rogue stepped up to investigate, noticing the damaged central core, and some wiring that had come undone. Using somewhat limited knowledge, she tried reconnecting a few of the cables, much to Jarus' dismay. "What are you doing?" He asked, "That thing almost killed us last time!"

"It's damaged, I doubt it's weapons even function… I want to know how these things work…"

As she messed with the cables, the machine sprung to life, immediately turning to face Minerva, claws ready. There was a tense moment, before the machine spoke again.

"Objective: Bal- Error: Balance not Found… Data Logs Absent… What is your purpose?" It asked.

"We- We're climbing the Spire… We came from outside…" Minerva responded, not quite sure about what to think about the damaged machine.

"Error: Exterior Data Unknown… Additional Information Requested…"

Jarus suddenly had an idea, "We're here to fix whatever's happened at the top of the Spire, to end the Spireblight. Do you want to join us?"

"Objective: Bala- Objective Updated: Ascend Spire and Locate Exit to Obtain Data on Exterior of Structure…"

Jarus smiled, "I'll take that as a yes, welcome aboard."

The machine looked at them curiously, it then joined alongside the two of them as they continued onward…

**-X-**

The trio sat down to rest for the night, it was getting late and both Minerva and Jarus were tired…

There wasn't much around to light a fire with, so them simply decided to go without as the two of then laid out on the stone floor, the automation that had now joined them seemed somewhat curious as to their actions. Accessing his data banks, he discovered the concept as the idea of sleep, and that it was irrelevant to his own functionality. The machine decided to run a quick diagnostics of itself while it was here.

"Diagnostic Results: Internal Systems Damaged, Exterior Sensors Active, Data Banks Corrupt, Power Supply Damaged, Weapons Systems Not Found…"

Minerva listened to its reports with interest, she wasn't sure what had happened to the machine, but she knew it had been somewhat damaged when they had first encountered it. She slowly stood and made her way over to the automation, scanning it for any visible damages. It's exterior plating was scuffed and cracked, but otherwise appeared decently intact, it's interiors however, looked completely mauled. Frayed and damaged wiring and some internal components were completely destroyed.

_"What happened here?" _She thought, as she did, the machine's lenses looked down at her.

"Capacitor Absent, Orb Control Minimal… Objective Updated: Locate Capacitor…"

_"Orbs?" _Minerva thought, _"Are those the energy spheres from the one that we fought earlier?" _Come to think of it, she hadn't seen their new companion utilize any of the energy attacks, it was probably just because it was missing something essential, a capacitor apparently… She made a mental note of it for later, now, it was time for her to get some sleep.

As she laid down however. Jarus spoke, "You said you wanted to see what was under the mask, right?"

She turned to face him, "Would, that be alright?"

He reached up to his mask and slowly removed the armor piece. Underneath was a humanoid face with glowing yellow eyes, a large scar ran across his face, cutting through his right eye and continuing downward, it didn't appear to phase the swordsman however, even as small yellow flares ran across it as the skin underneath seemed to glow like a fire. The silver colored hair accented his light colored skin, as the yellow sockets where his eyes world normally be dug into her soul.

"I'm a monster… You happy?"

Minerva wasn't sure what to respond, but nodded. "Yeah, thanks for sharing… I don't think you're a monster…"

"You don't know what I've done," He replied, replacing his mask over his face. The swordsman laid back down and started to drift off to sleep, his thoughts drifting on his past actions, and that because of him, Minerva might not have a tribe to return to…

**Alright everybody, that's it for today! Let me know your thoughts! Until next time!**


End file.
